


Late Night Talks

by Herk



Category: The A-Team (TV)
Genre: Complete, Established Relationship, M/M, Old Work, Originally Posted Elsewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-02-01 01:24:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21313147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herk/pseuds/Herk
Summary: Face doesn't always fall asleep easily. Hannibal knows how to take care of him.
Relationships: Templeton "Faceman" Peck/John "Hannibal" Smith
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Re-posted from AGES ago because the place where it was collected doesn't exist anymore (at least I can't find it) and the new H/F group has limited space.

It was a warm and silent night. Hannibal felt comfortable and satiated just lying in bed his young lover cuddled to his chest. He was still covered in a slight film of sweat, but he didn't mind. The room smelled of his and Face's lovemaking and he couldn't imagine a better scent in the world.

“Hannibal?” came the silent question from Face.

“Mmmh?”

“Can I ask you something?”

That arose Hannibal's curiosity. Normally the young man fell asleep pretty quickly, but he obviously had something on his mind.

“Sure kid, just shoot.”

“Can you tell me about, when you grew up?”

Hannibal was surprised, he hadn't seen that one coming.

“If you don't want to, I'd understand.” Face quickly added.

Hannibal took Face's chin and made him look up to him.

“I got no problem talking to you about anything,” the silver-haired man assured his lover “I only had the impression, that you don't like to talk about this kind of things.”

The blue-green eyes that looked into his were so open and Face seemed so vulnerable, that it almost broke the colonel's heart. The younger man took Hannibal's hand into his own and smiled.

“I never had a family of my own, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear about yours. You actually know more about my background, than I do of yours. It hardly seems fair. I want to know as much as I can about you, John.” The blonde man's voice was warm and passionate as he explained “Besides, if you tell me about your family memories, then it will be a bit like sharing.”

A wave of love and affection went through Hannibal, he drew Face close and placed a caring kiss on his lips. “I love you, Templeton. And I will gladly share everything I have with you.”

With a happy smile Face settled again in his former position cuddling close to Hannibal, pressing his ear against the other man's chest, so that he would not only hear, but also feel him talk.

Stroking the blonde, silken strands Hannibal began . . .

“My old man owned a shop in the Georgetown. We lived in a small house a little outside the town. My grandpa had been a farmer and my Pa wanted us to have as much fields and woods to roam around as possible, guess he figured we wouldn't get into as much trouble with the trees as we would have with the townspeople.”

Hannibal chuckled at the memories.

“Well, it mostly meant we had to walk two or three miles to get in trouble with them. My Ma was home all the time, she didn't go to work. It wasn't common back then for a married woman. She helped Pa with the finances, kept his books in order and all that, but she could do that from back home mostly. She went helping out in the shop maybe once a month or so and it was always like heaven, when she did. It meant no one was there to set us any limits for a whole day, which almost seemed like eternity, when I was small.

That's the funny part you take your parents for granted. You never think of them as something you might lose, they're like the sky or the earth or the weather, always present, most of the time you ignore them and sometimes they make themselves reminded in unpleasant ways, like telling you to eat your vegetables or giving you a good walloping after you showed Cassie Miller's underwear to everyone in town.”

“You did what?” Face asked in amusement.

“I was eight, kid. Thought it was the most hilarious idea ever, turned out Lizzie didn't think so and went on and told Ma and Pa.”

“Who's Lizzie?” The younger man asked, when he heard the affection in Hannibal's voice.

“My big sister Elizabeth. There were four of us.  David was the oldest, then one year younger Elizabeth, two years after that me and like an afterthought little James who's four years younger than me.”

“Growing up with three brothers, I bet she was a tough girl.”

“The toughest.” Hannibal agreed. “Most of the time we got along perfectly, I kind of was her favourite.”

“Yet, she told on you.” Face said.

“Well, Cassie Miller was her best friend. And I did say most of the time. There were far more times, when she knew that I had done something wrong, where she covered up for me, than there were, when she told.”

“You showed the underwear of your sister's best friend to the whole town? What kind of kid were you?” Face asked in false shock.

“A wild one, none of those altar boys.” Hannibal teased and ruffled Face's hair.

“What about your brothers?”

“ David and I were best enemies, or something like that. None of us took  James serious for the first few years, he was just a 'baby' after all. But I was just three years younger than  Dave and I think he saw me as competition. Elizabeth was widely accepted as one of the guys - that is before the whole high school circus started, and she always dragged me along, so we three ended up having a lot of the same friends. And most of them liked me better than  David .” Hannibal said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Face chuckled. “Listen to you sitting there and bragging on about some popularity contest you won when you were what five, six?”

“If you only want to make fun of me, I don't have to tell you anything, Lieutenant.” Hannibal threatened and tickled the younger man lightly.

“Stop, stop.” Face pleaded between laughter. “I promise I'll behave myself, Colonel.”

“They liked me better, because I had the best ideas.” Hannibal explained.

“To get into trouble, probably.” Face murmured under his breath.

“Did you say something, Lieutenant?”

“No, sir, just admiring the early roots of the A-team, sir.”

Hannibal chuckled. “God kid, that mouth of yours will get you into serious trouble someday.”

“Gets me out as often as it gets me in.” Face shrugged “Go on,” he pleaded.

“What do you want to know?”

“What about  David ? How could you be 'best enemies'?”

“Well he was three years older than me and I admired him. All through kindergarten I thought he was the coolest boy in the world, most of the stuff I did was to impress him. The problem was I always ended up impressing his friends and he thought me a pest. And then he went to first grade, while I was barely more than a toddler. I remember him being mean to Lizzie for half an eternity, because he was a big kid now, while she was just a baby. He was playing high almighty school kid. That's when I first learned that Elizabeth was a lot more fun to be around than  David . She actually was impressed by some of the things I came up with and for a whole year it was us against him.”

“What happened, when Elizabeth was old enough to go to school?”

“Well that's when it showed how different she was from us boys. While  David was still all 'John's a baby, he can't even write' she began to teach me, just a little here and there but I was way ahead of my classmates when I finally got into school, reading and writing were an old thing for me. I was the king of the first graders.”

“Didn't they all hate you?” Face asked perplexed.

Hannibal chuckled “Learning wasn't considered 'uncool' back then. And even if some of them might have thought along the lines, never forget I was more than trained in fighting, growing up with two older siblings. Plus if someone would have attacked me, it would have meant war with  David , Lizzie, Cassie and a lot of their friends.

So school all in all was pretty boring. I never stopped learning with Liz, so I was almost always two years ahead of my class. I used the time in class wisely to read all those important things, like Cpt. America or Flash or how some American super soldier beat up Nazi scum.”

“That's how you saw the second World War, as something exciting happening in comics?”

“It grew all too real when my Pa enlisted in 1941. He had been in the reserve and would have been drawn in sooner or later, but he reckoned, that if we finally got involved he wanted to help as early as he could. He believed in helping the French and the British and all the poor people, who already had to live under the Nazi terror. I was 9 back then and of course I knew he was a hero, going away to fight not only for our country but also for all the poor people who needed our help.

I didn't realize it on a conscious level back then, but the following years were like hell for my Ma. We were old enough to help with  James and were surely old enough to look after ourselves for most of the time, but the constant fear, that my father wouldn't return took her toll on her. She somehow managed to bring us all through the war, looking after us, so that we wouldn't avoid our chores or our homework and she kept the shop going.

I was always proud of my Pa fighting for what is right, risking his life for an idea he believed in, but I had to grow as old as I'm now to really appreciate how hard it must have been for her. And she always kept smiling, keeping the sorrows away from us kids.”

Face hugged him closer. “You're not that old, Hannibal.”

“Nice of you to say so, even if we both know it's a lie, kid. I remember the second World War, Tem. I was thirteen, when it ended and my Pa came come. That was how many years before you were even born?”

“Some.” Face answered evasively, suppressing a yawn.

Hannibal shook his head slightly. Although he knew or at least guessed most of Face's secrets the younger man still wasn't ready to share too much information about himself.

“You know what kid? I think that's enough for tonight. It's growing so late it's growing early again, and old people like me need their beauty sleep.”


	2. Chapter 2

“John?”

“Hmm?”

“You're still awake?”

Hannibal grumbled and turned to his obviously very awake lover.

“Not really.”

When he saw the disappointment in the younger man's eyes his voice immediately softened, when he continued.

“What is it, kid?”

“Nothing.” Face felt stupid already and began to turn away.

Hannibal's strong arms stopped him from doing so. He gently took Face's chin and made his young lover look at him.

“I doubt you'd be awake for nothing, so just shoot,” he told him in a calm voice.

“I just wanted to ask you something, it's not important really.” Face felt slightly embarrassed.

“It's obviously important to you Tem. So tell me.”

“I just wondered. . . Have you ever been with a woman, John?”

Hannibal did his best to suppress the chuckle that built in his throat. He leaned back a bit to get a better look at his young lover.

“This is going to be a regular thing? Me telling you anything you ask, laying in bed late at night?” he asked, very carefully keeping his tone from sounding too amused.

“I love to listen to your voice, I can sleep better that way. And I want to know,” Face admitted.

“OK on  **one** condition: Every time I answer one of your questions, you'll have to answer one of mine – truthfully. Last time was a free shot, but from now on you'll pay in equal currency.”

Face obviously fought with himself. “And if I don't... if I can't answer your question?” he asked warily.

“I won't force you to anything, kid. I'll ask my question, you'll answer it first, if you don't want to, I won't answer yours that night and you'll have to satisfy your curiosity some other time. If you do, then it's my turn and I'll tell you what you want to know. And since we both know I love to hear myself talking about myself a lot more than you do, I will end up talking ten times as much as you anyway.”

He observed Face carefully. He wanted to give him what he wanted, but he also wanted to give him what he needed, and listening was probably higher on that list than telling. He had at least to try to get Face to open up more to him.

The young man looked unsure for a moment, but then his face settled in a determined expression. “So what's your question?”

Hannibal smiled – another small victory in his constant battle.

“Basically the same as yours, Tem. What about the women in your life,” he said casually and leaned back waiting for an answer.

Face relaxed, Hannibal let him get of easy for a start, he already knew the most things about that, but he answered anyway.

“Lots of,” he said with a smirk “Although probably less than I made you believe over the years. I enjoy being with women and they enjoy being with me – you know that, John.”

Of course Hannibal knew that his young lover was bisexual, enjoyed the company of men and women equally, and he never had had a problem with that, but he wouldn't let him get away with so little. He looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Face continued: “Until I met you I usually preferred woman, it was easier and it was safe – with my looks they normally didn't expect more than a bit of fun.”

Hannibal softly caressed his lover's blonde hair. Many looked at his incredible beauty and immediately assumed he was just a shallow pretty boy, and he wouldn't have been the excellent con man he was if he hadn't used that to his advantage.

Face enjoyed sex and physical closeness but he was very, very careful if not afraid of real intimacy. Which made it almost a miracle how he was willing to open up to Hannibal, even if it was only a little at a time.

“You know about at least a dozen women, you met during the cases, girls that helped us out with one thing or the other as a favour to me, clients . . .”

“Or their good looking daughters, sisters, nieces...” Hannibal teased.

“None of them meant anything to me – I mean they were nice and all but...” Face began defensively.

“I'm not jealous, Templeton,” Hannibal assured him with a smile.

“You have no reason to be,” Face said and snuggled close to his chest. “And you already know about Leslie, so let's not go there. That was a lifetime ago anyway,” he added so quietly that Hannibal could easily have missed it.

“It still hurts?” he asked carefully.

“I was just a stupid boy back then, but it did hurt like hell and I don't like remembering that.”

Face's tone made it very clear that he wouldn't go farther than this. Hannibal was surprised that he had said as much as he did and was more than willing to let it go. *Remembering pain and still hurting are two different things* he thought contently.

“So – “ Hannibal started leaning back against the bed stand tenderly pulling Face with him “Mr John Smith and the women. That'll be a short story but you asked.”

Face moved until he settled into a comfortable position still snuggling close to Hannibal.

“I never had much interest in the so called fair sex. I dated a few girls during high school, even went steady with a few of them, that was what everybody expected and I didn't mind too much, some of them were really bright and nice girls and it was fun talking to them. But I never tried to get into their pants, I simply wasn't interested. Back in the late 40's/early 50's that only meant that everybody thought of me as a really well behaved, nice young man.  In my last year of high school my girlfriend got kind of persistent that we'd “do it”.”

“And did you?” Face asked.

“Nope, I got irritated and split up with her.”

Face chuckled when he heard the smugness in Hannibal's voice. “That's a very short story,” he murmured.

“Oh I'm not finished, kid. But you don't rush a master storyteller.”

“What happened?”

“Cassie Miller.”

“Cassie Miller? The underwear girl?”

“The one and only. She had heard of my split up with Margaret and she had gotten it into her head, that I was just too nervous, because it would've been the first time and I didn't want to blow it. So she decided to help me. She had some experience – although not much – and considered herself mature and wise in that department. She had always found me kind of cute, although I was two years younger than her, and so she came to me.”

“An older girl came on to you.” Face couldn't quite keep the amused disbelieve out of his voice.

“Even I was young once, kid, even I.”

“Must've been the stone age,” the younger man very quietly mumbled.

Hannibal laughed. “Near enough. - OK so I was working in my Pa's shop, when she came in and told me to meet her that evening 8 o'clock behind Taylor's. She didn't ask or beg, she ordered. She had grown into a remarkable young woman.

So I went, I mean it could have been important, probably something about Liz, so I had to go. We went on a walk, and when we were safely out of everyone's sight, she told me what she had in mind.

I completely froze, she was a more or less well behaved girl, and she suggested “that”.

I tried to tell her I couldn't take advantage of her, because frankly I wasn't brave enough to tell her that I wasn't as interested in her underwear as I had been when we were eight.

She was my big sister's best friend and she knew me in and out. She accused me of being too afraid to try it and with a few well placed insults she had me where she wanted me. If I had backed out, I would have lost my face, so I did it.

On that warm and lovely Wednesday evening in June I had sex with a woman for the first time.

I slept with two other woman in my life, once because I thought that maybe if I tried again, I would see what all the fuss was about, and once because I had too keep my face with some comrades in Korea. The only thing worth mentioning is, that I got lucky all three times and didn't get the girl in question into trouble.

After those experiments I was honest enough with myself to admit, that I was homosexual. For the rest of the world I kept up the pretending, because it wouldn't have been a good idea, to let anyone know about it 'specially with the army, but it never went farther than a little flirting and some kisses to keep it believable.”

“What about men?” Face asked curiously.

“Not tonight, Tem. It's time we get some sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow to meet with the client, and you don't want to look like a walking corpse, do you?”

Face frowned visibly. “I never look like a walking corpse,” he protested.

“If you don't get any sleep you do, so . . .”

Face sighed and closed his eyes to sleep. The last thing Hannibal could hear was the mumbled “Someday I want to meet that Cassie Miller,” before Face drifted completely off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hannibal?”

Face tried to sound normal, but he couldn't hide the traces of insecurity and nervousness completely. They had just returned from a case that had been very hard on him, and it still showed. Hannibal had inwardly cursed himself for letting Face get into such a situation for five days straight now. They both had agreed that they needed to keep their relationship secret, but it had resulted in him letting Face down, when he would have needed him. The young man shouldn't have gone through this without his full support, yet that was exactly what had happened.

When they finally were home – alone and together, he had done what he could, to reassure Face of his love and Templeton had assured him, that he was fine and everything was OK between them. But his insecurity reared its ugly head once again, eating away at the trust, that Hannibal had worked so hard to instill.

“Yes, love?” he answered tenderly.

“Are you tired?” Face asked carefully.

“I'm never  **too** tired for you,” Hannibal told him with a tender kiss. “What do you want?”

Face returned the kiss before answering. “Can I ask you something?”

When he saw into the incredible vulnerable blue-green eyes of his lieutenant, Hannibal felt relieved. Face wasn't closing up towards him.

“Sure.” On a second thought he remembered to add “You know the deal, kid.”

He would have expected Face to flinch or at least frown at that, but instead his lover surprised him with a small smile. Hannibal insisting on their agreement proved that everything between them was as it should be.

“What did you think, when you first saw me in 'Nam?”

“If you want the answer to that one... How old were you, when we first met?”

Face for just a moment considered not answering this one. “No chance for a swap?” he suggested.

“You would like any other question I would come up with even less,” Hannibal told him.

Face sighed. “I was almost . . .”

Hannibal silenced him with a finger on his lip. “None of that 'almost' crap, kid, just a straight honest answer.”

“17” Face said avoiding Hannibal's eyes.

Hannibal swallowed, that was even younger than he had expected, considering his birthday it meant, that Face still had been 18, when the Hanoi disaster had happened. He should never been in that hell hole of a war, even less considering how young he had been.

“How...” he began startled, forgetting the 'one question a time' policy he had dictated himself.

“I hated the orphanage. The only way to get out were false papers. When I was 16 I finally succeeded in organizing a believable fake ID. I went to college, because I thought it'd be more convincing and it wasn't that hard really, making all those people believe that I belonged there.

It took some work with the studying, because I was behind two years, but it's amazing with how little you can get away with. When I changed my name I used the opportunity to 'correct' the misprint in my official records. And when I decided to join up, no one was too eager to question my claim anyway.”

Hannibal turned his lover's face to look at him. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be,” Face told him. He didn't want Hannibal to be sorry about the one thing that made it possible for them to meet.

A sad smile crossed the colonel's features. He knew his lieutenant well enough, to know what was going through his mind.

“Never,” he answered to the unspoken part of his lover's request and kissed him deeply and passionately.

“Hmm” Face tried to speak.

Hannibal pulled his lips away to hear, what he wanted.

“Don't think you can evade this, Colonel. You owe me an answer.”

A small smile crossed Hannibal's features. “You're right, kid.”

He leaned back and let Face settle into his favourite listening position. Then he took a deep breath.

“You know, that's a mighty difficult question, you asked there, kid.

I first saw you in our camp some hours after you first arrived, just passing by you on my way to the O.C.. I'm not sure if you even saw me. And what I thought...”

Face waited patiently, while Hannibal tried to organize his thoughts, wrestling for the right words.

“It's hard to tell, not because it's been so many years – I remember it like it happened yesterday – but because there were so many things going through my mind right then. The very first thing that hit me was your incredible beauty followed directly by your incredible youth. I asked myself if the army had begun to rob cradles, and at the same time I couldn't help but think that it had to be cradles in heaven if they did because you surely looked like an angel with that face of yours.

You were talking to Simmons and flashed your winning smile at him. That moment there wasn't a thing I would have loved more than covering that lips of yours with my own. I hadn't felt such a rush of – well – lust, since a long time and certainly never just from a glimpse at someone I just passed on the street.

Although I had always been very, very careful to keep up the pretense I suddenly thought about the possibility to approach you. If you were not under my command. I reasoned it wouldn't be wrong. I certainly would never force you to anything and if I wasn't your C.O., you wouldn't get the idea that I would, would you?

I certainly knew better than taking advantage of a younger man, someone with lower rank. Such things happened in the army of course, but although that would've been a way for me to get pretty boys into my bed, that was never what I wanted. Guys who did that, didn't care about the other person – a lot of them weren't even homosexual. Such things never were about love or even sex, they were about power. I always tried to distance myself from that kind of behaviour, but one look at you tempted me to at least bend the rules I had lain out for myself.”

“You never did though,” Face said sounding a bit sad.

“I asked Henderson, who was with me on the way to the O.C. who you were. He told me your name and rank and told me that you were the new addition to Baker's unit. And then he added that you were very good in everything you did, soldiering, acquiring, and most of all getting into trouble.”

“My reputation preceded me.”

“That was the moment I buried any hope I might have had. I might be a lusty old pervert, but I had my principles that, even if I considered bending them, I could never break.”

“Must have been a bit of a shock, that I got transferred to your team then.” Face sounded bitter.

“What?” Hannibal was confused. “Oh, you stupid kid.”

Face tried to get up. “Guess I am.”

Hannibal grabbed him and pinned him down on the bed with his own weight. If he hadn't felt so hurt right now, Face would probably enjoyed this position very much, especially since both of them were absolutely naked.

“Look at me, kid.”

Face deliberately avoided his gaze.

“I said look at me, Lieutenant.”

When Face obeyed, Hannibal could see the hurt and the feeling of betrayal in those big round eyes, before he hid them behind his usual mask of calm indifference.

“Oh, Tem, I'm sorry. I did tell you it's difficult to find the right words. I – I  **asked ** for you to be transferred to my team.”

Surprise crossed the younger man's features, but he was still very cautious, not to let Hannibal see behind his mask, when he warily asked him to “Explain.”

“I knew Baker. He was an asshole. If you tended to get into trouble, your stay with him would turn into a very short stay in a personal hell, before he would've gotten you locked away for good, and that if you were lucky. Plus I knew what Major Carson, Baker's right hand man, would do to a beautiful young man like you. Like I said, such things did happen in Uncle Sam's army.

When Henderson told me, I knew I had to get you out of that unit ASAP. Which meant I had to get you transferred into my team. Which made me your direct superior, your C.O..”

Understanding dawned in the younger man's features. “You did that for me?”

“I was already very used to shove that kind of feeling aside, bury it very deep. But I could've never lived with myself if something would've happened to you in Baker's unit, while I could do something about it. It was only lust after all, or so I thought.

When you came into my unit and I really got to know you, I fell in deeper and deeper for the person you were, but it was impossible. And ever since then one thing or the other kept it that way.

Until you came to me.”

After adding that last sentence in a very soft voice Hannibal let go of Face and carefully moved himself to lie next to him.

“I hope that answers your question Lieutenant. If I was to tell you how I fell for you or when I finally noticed that I was indeed in love or how much I care for you, we could be here in this bed for months and I still wouldn't be finished.”

He gently pushed a strand of blonde hair out of his lover's face and watched him carefully. Hannibal looked Face straight in the eye and willed himself to show every last bit of his love in his gaze. He needed Face to trust him, to believe in their relationship and his love for him.

A small smile showed on Face's lips. “I love you, John.”

“I love you, too, Tem. And don't you ever forget that.” Hannibal answered as he pulled Face close to his chest.

He didn't let go of him until they both were fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Maybe it was Face's upbringing in the crowded rooms in an orphanage or maybe it was just the soothing effect of Hannibal's voice but Face had soon discovered that, although he could sleep in almost any situation, he never fell asleep as easily or slept as deeply as he did when they peacefully talked in their bed at night.

No matter where they stayed for the time being, which never was too long in one place given their status as fugitives, when they were alone in the room for a night and safe from any kind of disturbance and he snuggled close to Hannibal's chest, taking in his lover's strong earthy scent and listening to his voice, Face knew he was home.

Most of the times the questions asked were small ones, not much more than an excuse to hear Hannibal talk. Of course he also wanted to know every little detail about his lover. Well if he was perfectly honest with himself – which he usually tried to avoid – there was the fact of course, that small questions were safe. Hannibal never pried more into him than Face did into him, so keeping the questions small guaranteed that he wouldn't be asked to give more away of himself than he was ready to do. Face knew that Hannibal not only knew this but understood.

So over the months Face learned a lot of little things about his lover (his favourite colour was a deep dark red, because he liked its warmth; his favourite book was M*A*S*H and he had actually met Richard Hornberger during his time in Korea – “You know, kid, neither the man or his book were as liberal and anti-war as the movie or TV-show make them, that's just the modern fashionable approach. He was grounded firmly in reality and had a great sense of humour.”; his favourite song – he actually blushed a bit and told him he had a new one – “'I'll be here in the morning' by that van Zandt guy”; his favourite film “The magnificent Seven. Those guys are the real thing – plus the leader is a good looking man, smoking cigars, with a beautiful young blond as his right hand man.”) and slowly, gradually he learned the one big thing, that he had found someone, he could actually trust.

It was the week after Valentine's day. They had been on a case on the day itself and after running into Lynch they had gone into hiding for some days. Tonight was the first time they were on their own for almost two weeks.

Hannibal had gone through a great deal of preparing Valentine's day and he wasn't bothered by the fact that they were a bit late with the celebrating. When they had arrived at their current home, he had shushed Face of into the bath to get a good long soak, to get rid of all the build up tension from the last few weeks. When Face came out, there was a dinner Hannibal had prepared himself waiting on the candlelit table. The room was decorated with sunflowers, slow, quiet music filling the air. From then on the evening had grown better and better.

Several hours later Face was cuddled next to Hannibal in the huge bed of the master bedroom feeling pleasantly exhausted. He absent-mindedly stroke Hannibal's chest, letting his fingers play with the curls of hair, which produced a low sound from his lover, not completely unlike purring.

Face closed his eyes, taking in the scent of Hannibal, listening to his purr and his heartbeat, sensing the surprisingly soft hair against his fingertips.

This was perfect.

“John?”

“Yeah?” Hannibal sounded sated.

“Do you think this can last?”

Hannibal suppressed a sigh. He had to remind himself, that he needed to be patient with the kid. Still sometimes he got depressed when he saw, how much work still was in front of him.

“What about you, kid?” he couldn't help it, but he sounded tired and sad in his own ears.

Face bit his lip. He had brought this upon himself – a question for a question, that had been the deal and he had to answer first. His fingers clenched together, he grabbed unto Hannibal as if he was never to let him go, when he answered.

“I don't know,” he confessed in a small voice. “I'm afraid John. This is too good to be true, too damn perfect to last. I'm afraid and I don't even know, if I'm more afraid, that this will last or that it won't – at least then it would be over and I would know, instead of wondering all the time.”

Face swallowed, he didn't want to hurt Hannibal, he needed him to understand, and so he continued talking, before he lost his nerve.

“Every day we're together it gets better, every day I fall in love a bit deeper, every day I need you a bit more. But I know that these things never last, that sooner or later every good thing ends, that in the end everybody leaves me. I'm not sure if I could survive that John, not tonight and even less tomorrow or the day after.”

Hannibal could sense the dampness of tears against his chest and the desperate clinging fingers in his upper arm. He wished he could take away all that fears, but knew it was impossible to do so instantly, such things took time.

His fingers gently stroke the blonde strands, while his other arm pulled Face close, offering him the comfort of closeness.

“You know kid, I'm afraid, too.” his voice was soft and gentle as he spoke “We lead a difficult and dangerous life, we never know, where we will be next month, never to speak of next year. Keeping this secret from our two best friends in the world – our family – makes things a lot more difficult and I wish it wasn't necessary, but it is, because – let's face it kid – even if you take away the whole fugitive from the law thing, there's still the hell of an age gap and the fact, that we're both men, that will always prevent us from being commonly accepted as a couple.

I look at you, so beautiful and young and I'm afraid of losing you, kid. You could have made a lot easier choices, when it comes to picking a lover and I'm deathly afraid, that one day you might think we're not worth the whole complications, that our relationship brings to your life.

I don't think that I could survive losing you, and it is a very real threat. One of us could be captured or – worse – be killed tomorrow.

But you know what, Tem? No matter how afraid I am, no matter how slim the chances, I believe in us. I believe that this can last.

And I will fight with tooth and claw even unto my last breath, to MAKE this work.”

His fingers cupped Face's chin and forced him to look up into his face.

“And I will fight whether I'll have to do it with or against you, understood Lieutenant?”

A small smile escaped Face's lips.

“Yes, sir.”

“So which will it be, Lieutenant, with or against?” Hannibal asked only half-mocking.

“With – always.” Face promised and sealed it with a kiss.


End file.
